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Don’t expect to see many SUVs in the background of future photos of the Eiffel Tower. Results of a weekend referendum have tripled parking rates for some types of vehicles in Paris, France. Based on weight, the new rules target out-of-towners who bring SUVs into the City of Light.
In addition to announcing the facelifted 4-Series Coupe and Convertible, BMW has introduced a new entry-level version of the electric iX2 dubbed the eDrive20.Sales of the iX2 eDrive20 will kick off in March, with prices in the UK starting from £50,710 ($64,280), making it £6,735 ($8,537) cheaper than the iX2 xDrive30.Driving this new variant is a single electric motor rated at 204 hp which drives the front wheels. While it is not a performance model, the electric SUV can still hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in a respectable 8.6 seconds and tops out at 106 mph (170 km/h).
Ford decided to drop the Transit Connect in America last year and that’s a bummer after seeing the redesigned van that was recently introduced in Europe.Sporting available all-wheel drive and plug-in hybrid power, the new Transit Connect is a significant step forward. However, it doesn’t look terribly remarkable as it sports a wide grille, sweptback headlights, and an evolutionary body.The model will be offered with short and long wheelbases as well as two-seat Van and five-seat Kombi configurations.
While we’re constantly hearing about tightening emissions regulations, the relevant timelines issued by government actors are rarely adhered to. Electric vehicle subsidies went from temporary to indefinite and combustion bans have gone from right around the corner to anyone’s guess. This is also true of the industry itself, which often makes bold promises designed to appease a subset of the public only to repeatedly move the target date back a few years.
Regulators in Germany have opened an investigation into alleged diesel exhaust rule circumvention on the part of BMW. Claims have been made that the automaker used an illegal defeat device on select models to achieve lower tailpipe emissions during testing. It’s a situation reminiscent of the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal from 2015. However, government regulators have been on the offensive ever since — roping in loads of manufacturers and leaving a subset of the public wondering whether modern emission laws are even tenable.
Over the past five decades, the Volkswagen Golf GTI has seen its fair share of changes, but one thing remained constant: the manual transmission option. Well, not anymore. In the 2024 update (or 2025MY for North America), they’ve decided to bid farewell to the good old stick shift, but fret not, they’ve cranked up the power to soften the blow.Volkswagen took the wraps off the lightly updated Mk8.5 Golf today, and with it revealed its latest take on the GTI.
It’s often the case that cars launched in Europe or Asia don’t make it to the U.S. until the following model year.
Last year, China became the biggest exporter of vehicles on earth, and its automotive industry is only set to grow from there. This month, the first Chinese-built cargo ship built explicitly for vehicle exports set sail and is bound for Europe.The BYD Explorer No. 1 can transport up to 7,000 vehicles and, as the name implies, was commissioned by BYD.